Arthritis in the rabbit knee joint: a quantitated model

The knee joint in rabbits has been used as an arthritis model for the study of acute immunologic injury. Histologic examination of synovium plus a standardized procedure for irrigating inflammatory exudate from the joint allowed study of damage due to immune complexes, urate crystals, and Arthus type vascular lesions by multiple parameters. With this model Arthus lesions could be abolished with neutrophil depletion and reconstituted with intra-articular injection of neutrophil suspension. The rate and degree of injury could also be diminished by depletion of complement components.